Pushing for conservation, shark attack victims turn the other cheek

Nine shark bite victims pose in front of the US Capitol Wednesday. The group joined advocates in pushing for the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 (S. 850/H.R. 81), which would strengthen the ban on shark finning in US waters and encourage shark conservation programs around the world.

After the attack, Salamone left her newspaper job and now works full time for the Pew group. This spring, she began contacting other shark attack survivors. Most of those she called agreed to join the conservation effort.

Brenneka, whose attack made him go from a righty to a lefty, took his anger out on the animals directly. He would go deep-sea fishing and use a "powerhead" – a bullet fired from a long tube – to kill the sharks he hooked. He saved the jaws and ate the meat.

But then, Brenneka said, he went diving to see sharks, did research on them and concluded that the one that attacked him was not at fault.

Brenneka went on to found Shark Attack Survivors in 1988, a group that supports shark conservation efforts. Now, instead of killing sharks, he tags and releases them.

Particularly controversial is the practice of finning. Shark fin soup is a delicacy in China, and demand is growing as more Chinese enter the middle classes. The fins are obtained by cutting the fin off living sharks and then discarding the rest of the body – which is of little value to fishermen – back into the sea, where the usually still-living shark sinks to the ocean floor and dies.

The practice is illegal in US territorial waters and that of many other countries, but enforcement is lax. The Senate bill seeks to close many of the law's loopholes.

The Washington Post story quotes Mike deGruy, a marine biologist who lost some function in his hand after being bitten by a grey reef shark in 1978. DeGruy said he could relate to what it must be like to be one of those unfortunate sharks.